A former rugby coach has been jailed for taking upskirt shots of girls at the school where he worked. Teacher Richard Lees, 43, will serve two years after category A images were found on his work laptop along with a host of extreme pornography. He initially denied the pictures were his, saying that someone else must have gained access to the device. Lees was first arrested in July 2022 for an unrelated offence and his laptop was seized, but he was charged with possession of indecent images of children in September 2023.
Further analysis found the upskirting images of female pupils he had taken on school grounds in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where he worked as a teacher. He had also taken vieos of women in the bathroom at his home without their knowledge, leading to him being arrested again in September last year. Lees, from Cheadle, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to five counts at Chester Crown Court. He was jailed at Chester Crown Court on Friday.
Detective Constable Alison Shields said: ‘We would like to commend the victims of the voyeurism for their courage throughout this investigation and subsequent court process. ‘Lees held a position of trust and should have been someone children could go to for support. Instead, he was hiding a twisted secret. He even had the audacity to store some of the indecent images of children on a school-issued laptop.
‘Thankfully, Lees’ shocking crimes were uncovered and our officers worked hard to gather a catalogue of evidence against him and bring him before the courts. ‘I hope this will also encourage anyone who may have been a victim of any similar offences to come forward and report it to us.’. Upskirting is a serious crime which involves taking indecent images of people without their consent, by angling cameras upwards under their skirts.
Between 2019 and 2022, 313 offences of ‘upskirting’ commenced prosecution in the magistrates’ courts, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. The 2021 UN Women UK YouGov survey revealed that 71% of women of all ages in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public, including having images taken without their consent. This number rose to 86% for women aged between 18 and 24.
However, hardly any have reported the crimes, with the survey finding that over 95% of all women did not report the incidences of sexual harassment. The two main reasons for this were ‘I didn’t think the incident was serious enough’ (55%), and ‘I didn’t think reporting it would help’ (45%). How can I report it to the police?. It takes courage to report something uncomfortable but your report could stop it happening to someone else, or potentially help uncover more serious offences.
If your situation is an emergency as someone is in immediate danger, or you feel things could turn heated or violent soon, call 999. Those with a hearing or speech impairment can use the textphone service 18000 or text 999 if they’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service. However, if it’s not an emergency upskirtig and other voyeurism offences can be reported by calling 101. You could also go to a police station, or make a report online here.
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